Forster Co-Ax or K & M Arbor Press

[mitchell]

i need to upgrade my press and i've came down to either K & M Arbor Press or the Forster Co-Ax press, i've never even seen either press, so what what do you guys think of them??

 

[treeman]

the arbor press is for hand dies,wilson). the forster co-axial press usses standard 7/8x14 dies. I've never had a co-ax but one feature i like about it is all the primers and crud from them falls into a little jar at the bottom of the ram.

 

[Winchester69]

What press are you currently using, and what are your expectations for improvement?
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[rstreich]

I say both. That's exactly what I have--one of each. For case forming, FL sizing, etc., you need a full-sized press. But for bullet seating, it's nice to just give the little arbor press handle a twist instead of running that co-ax press handle up and down.

 

[mitchell]

i have a lock and load, and a rock chucker. the lock and load i really only use for handgun and mine 223 P-dog ammo or anything i'm makeing alot of. the rock chucker is what i use for the target rifles. i'm just wanting new toys but i've trying to lower the runout on my ammo i'm useing forster and redding dies, and thats kind making me lean toward the co-ax press so that i don't have to buy more dies but i've always heard that arbor presses are the shit when it come to runout .

to rap it up i'm looking to make the best ammo possible, without braking the bank too bad

 

[favload]

For what its worth I just switched to a sinclair arbor press a few weeks ago and Wilson dies. I love them all! I used a standard RCBS press for over 15 years and I wish I switched a long time ago. My runout has dropped below .003" but most of all I can load on my office desk without a clamp or a huge set up time. It also "feels" like your making more accurate ammo and that alone makes me like the arbor press and Wilson dies more. When I need to FL size or just load lots of rounds quick I use the old press. When I want precision rounds I now ONLY use the arbor press. Note: buy the stainless steel Wilson dies the first time around. I was forced to buy a steel neck die and I wish I went with the stainless one due to keeping them up.
Oh yea, for the money of the co-ax press you can buy the arbor press and the Wilson dies.

 

[benjamin199]

I was in your situation earlier this spring. I had started shooting mid-range F-class with my 6BR. I was having problems with run out, over 1/2 my case necks were getting more than .002 before seating. I was using a Redding Big Boss and Redding competition bushing dies. I switched to the Forrester coax press and it made a significant improvement. I loaded 100 rounds this week with 80% being less than .001 and none over .002 for total run out of completed ammunition. One more thing that I noted was you have to be really careful with the alignment of the bushing inside the die. I had been leaving the bushing slightly loose like the directions recommended, but that was still giving me excessive run out, I got more improvement when I tightened the bushing down with a case already in the die to help align the bushing., I am still experimenting with better ways to align the bushing, My next step is to try turning down a piece of my rejected brass to fit the bushing exactly then using that as at tool when setting up the die.)
If you do get the Forrester remember to get the new lock down rings for you redding and rcbs dies, the originals do not work well), I was able to get a bag full pretty reasonably when I picked up the press.

 

[canuck]

I just ordered that press,forster). What lock down rings do I need and where do I get them,I ordered the redding competition dies as well) ?

 

[rstreich]

I get the Lyman Split-lock rings by the handful. The problem with the Forsters is that the screw still sticks out slightly when you tighten them down.